attached mail follows:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Samira Cherrouk (scherrouk@counterpart.org)
201 721-1577
COUNTERPART WORKING WITH THE MAYA PEOPLE
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (July 30, 2002) - Counterpart International has
been invited to take the lead in developing tourism, culture and
environmental aspects of five Mundo Mayan nations of Belize, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
Speaking in Guatemala City over the weekend, Counterpart's President, Lelei
LeLaulu disclosed that The Mundo Maya Organisation in collaboration with the
Inter-American Development Bank, Mayan nations and other partners are
embarking on a project to restore archeological sites, build rural
communities and design solid sustainable tourism infrastructure.
LeLaulu met with Ministers of Tourism and senior tourism officials to
develop plans for a US$20 million project - to be administered by
Counterpart - that will coordinate environmental conservation, community
development and public-private sector partnerships in the region.
"The response from the amazing people of this region has been excellent. The
Ministers are well aware of the issues involved in developing sustainable
tourism and I was pleased to hear of their support for involving as many
stakeholders as possible," he said. LeLaulu added that
he looks forward to their continued input as his team executes an important
foreign exchange earner for Mayan communities.
The Maya are the indigenous people of Southern Mexico and Central America,
occupying an area comprising the Yucatán peninsula and much of the present
state of Chiapas, Mexico; Guatemala and Belize; parts of El Salvador and
extreme western Honduras. Speaking a group of closely
related languages, the population of Maya today is more than 4 million.
These Mesoamerican Indian people are noted for their architecture and city
planning, their mathematics and calendar, and their hieroglyphic writing
system.
A team of specialists from Counterpart, Conservation International, Tourism
Development International and National Geographic are currently in Central
America exploring the ecological and promotional aspects of the programme.
ENDS
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